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51 Servant of God Julia Greeley's Early Years The Servant of God Julia Greeley was born into slavery on the farm of Samuel Brice Caldwell, 12 miles west of Hannibal, Missouri. A deacon in the Baptist ecclesial communit y, Caldwell helped build a small Baptist chapel on his propert y. There is no information available, however, as to what connection Julia, as a slave, might have had with that ecclesial communit y. The sole memory we have of Julia's life at Caldwell 's farm is her shattered right eye which continued to ooze f luids throughout her life, a violent reminder of the slave master's whip that blinded her as a young girl. She was ill one day, and her mother stayed back from the field to tend to her. The slave master came after the mother with a whip, and Julia's eye became collateral damage. After her emancipation, Julia performed domestic services for the Robinson family in St. Louis, the mother and father of whom are buried in the Catholic cemetery in St. Louis; but again, there is no informa- tion available as to what connection, if any, Julia might have had with religion. Julia moved to Denver in mid-win- ter 1878 to work for the family of Mrs. Robinson's sister, Julia Gilpin. We know she developed a close friendship with Mrs. Gilpin, a devout Catholic credited by Julia herself as having "given me my faith." Julia's Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Unaware if she had ever been baptized, she received the Sacrament conditionally on June 26, 1880, at Sacred Heart Parish in Denver. From then on, she was thoroughly involved in the mission of the Church and became known to the Jesuits who ministered to her as "the most zealous apostle of the Sacred Heart they have ever known." Julia died in 1918, on the Feast of the Sacred Heart, a First Friday that year. Fr. Charles McDonnell, S.J., said at her funeral that she was charitable to an astonishing degree and had a devotion to the Sacred Heart, the Blessed Virgin and the Blessed Sacrament that was marvelous. "It was not sentimentalit y," he added, " but real piet y." It would be nice if Julia herself could have told us more about these devotions, but the t yranny of slavery had robbed her not only of freedom of movement and other activit y as a youth but also of the chance for formal education, rendering her illiterate. Those who knew her, however, preserved the memory of her devotion by speaking about her actions. Seven centuries earlier, St. Anthony of Padua observed in a sermon, "Actions speak louder than words." ⊲ DENVER CATHOLIC | JUNE-JULY 2024 Center for Natural Law © Proceeds support Center for Natural Law educational programs $88 Includes cart, green fees, an amazing day of golf! 5th Annual Golf Tournament Sunday August 18, 2024 Tee Time 1:00 p.m. • 18 Holes Wellshire Golf Course 3333 S. Colorado Blvd. Denver, CO 80222 TO REGISTER: greg@centerfornaturallaw.org or CNL P.O. Box 100125, Denver, CO 80250 303-638-1517